Microsoft has updated Flash on Windows 8 to protect IE10 users from attacks. The company had been planning not to patch Flash media player until late October but rolled out the upgrade sooner.

Redmond is responsible for patching Flash Player in Windows 8 because Microsoft built the software into IE10. The idea was to make updating Flash through Windows Update, like IE, we make security more convenient for customers.

Adobe shipped a pair of security updates in August that patched eight vulnerabilities. Windows 8 RTM, the finished code that began reaching users that same month, lacked those fixes.

One of the eight Flash bugs has been exploited by hackers, perhaps for months. The Flash update will be offered to Windows 8 RTM, and to the final public beta, Windows 8 Release Preview.

We must admit that we never expected Blizzard to resort to lousy DRM methods, especially ones that have already proven to be more than a bit faulty. Unfortunately, the company did just that with Diablo III, but it seems to have brought about quite a loud response from the masses.

Namely, gamers have put up a petition for a patch that would allow playing single player campaigns in offline mode. Quite understandably we’d say, since no internet connection means you can’t play the game you splashed out $60 on.

While the method may make sense someday, it’s far from the best option at the moment. Global internet coverage is still not at the level some companies think it is, and that’s without considering people that travel often and want to kill some time with their favorite game.

DICE has confirmed that they will be dropping a massive update for Battlefield 3. It will be rolling out June 4th and 5th for all formats and platforms at once, according to the developer.

The patch comes ahead of the next expansion pack and the Battlefield Premium announcement that is planned for E3. The update encompasses a large amount of changes, including the M26 being fixed and the performance of the F35 in Back to Karkand is now equal to that of the SU35.

DICE has published the full change log so that you can see what to expect as a part of this patch. There is so much to this patch we suggest that you study the change log to get better familiar with it.

Bugbear Entertainment, developer of the new Ridge Racer Unbounded, has admitted that they are considering addressing complaints about the game’s control scheme. However, the developer seems to feel that the problem is due to their failure to explain how the game’s braking technique operates.

The developer thinks it was partly caused by the cutting of a planned tutorial explaining the control scheme for the title. Sources tell us, however, that it apparently existed in developmental builds of the game and was taken out right before the final builds of the game.

The tutorial was cut due to the developer’s belief that it the tutorial over-explained the control scheme and seemed to get in the way. Besides, as the game developed over time and the control mechanics changed, it apparently became difficult to continue updating and revising the control tutorial. In the end, they might have been better off to have left it in the game.

Now, the developers are going back to the drawing board to see whether it would be possible to add a more interactive tutorial back into the game in a patch, or perhaps revising the control scheme altogether. While nothing has been confirmed or decided yet, Bugbear is definitely looking at the problem and wants to figure out a solution.

All of these problems with the control scheme and drifting have really had an impact on the scores, and taken what the developer intended to be a straightforward game and made it much more complex than necessary. Some believe that the problem stems from the fact that the developer was trying to incorporate realistic physics into an arcade racer.

Bugbear also seems puzzled why the focus groups that play tested the game didn’t have more trouble with the brake button, drifting, or the entire control scheme. We certainly expect that they will be taking a look at their play testing in the future.

As things stand right now, they are not sure what they are going to do; but sources tell us that we should expect them to do something pretty quickly. It is hard to predict, however, what that something might be or how long it might take for them to get this completed. The end result is that the issue needs resolved, and sales are going to be lost until it is.

The release of the 1.65 firmware for the PS Vita was not without its problems. Sony pulled the firmware when it realized that it had an issue, and then later replaced it with the new version 1.66 that has now been released.

Version 1.66 is said to fix the issue that Vita users were having with the PS Mini games. In addition, users are saying that you should be able to get the older free Minis that you got when you subscribed. Just delete the existing, non-functional version and re-download it again, and the problem should be resolved.

Sony does not talk about the Mini fix in its release notes, but it does mention a few other tweaks that really are small things (like changes to the power save settings and Caps Lock now being supported). If you have PS Vita, you have likely already downloaded and installed it.

While Battlefield 3 players on the Xbox 360 have been waiting for this mega patch, players on the PlayStation 3 and PC have been already enjoying it. DICE confirmed late last night that the patch would go live today and we see that it is already updating players.

The update checks in for the 360 version at 1.02GB, so it is going to take a bit to download. In addition, it adds the Rent a Server as well as a large number of fixes that we have outlined in our past writings. With this update, the sale of the “shortcuts” is also live for those who want to buy better stuff instead of earning.

The release of this patch sets Battlefield 3 for the next content pack, which is expected to go on sale very soon.

Word comes from DICE that PC owners will get the new mega patch later today once server maintenance has been completed.

The maintenance on the servers is scheduled for 9 to 11:30 CET, and once completed, the PC patch will be made available. As for Xbox 360 owners, DICE assures them that they have not forgotten about them and the patch is coming, but it is apparently still in the certification process and is not yet ready for release.

Currently, DICE has no ETA on when it might be released. Sources tell us that it could be as long as another week or two, but it might be sooner, depending on certification testing.

A massive patch for Battlefield 3 is coming soon. The PlayStation 3 is confirmed to get this new patch on March 27th with news of released information for the Xbox 360 and PC versions to be confirmed soon.

The new patch will add a very large number of tweaks and resolutions to balance issues. Perhaps one of the more interesting things is that the “Rent a Server” functionality will be added to both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 console versions of Battlefield 3.

The issue that many Forza 4 players had been seeing where online lobbies would crash has been addressed by Turn 10. A new patch just released from Turn 10 (that you will get the next time you play Forza 4) resolves this issue.

According to Turn 10 Forza 4 headman, Dan Greenwalt, by way of the official Forza 4 web site, the issue was caused when liveried cars were used and players jumped between lobbies. This triggered a slow memory leak condition that resulted in longer load time, which the crashed box would time out. The leak would spread to other boxes in the lobby, even if the other players were not using a custom livery.

Due to the complex nature of the issue, it was difficult for Turn 10 to reproduce the issue and run down the exact cause of the problem. Then, once the problem was isolated, they needed to test the new code to make sure that it was not causing any problem before pushing it out.

Besides fixing this major issue, the update also increases the level cap from 150 to 999. The performance index of 38 cars was tweaked and a bug that many complained about that was slowing navigation was also fixed.

Developer Rocksteady has been hard at work in their Batcave, so to speak, trying to resolve the save corruption issues that have been dogging PC players of Batman: Arkham City since release.

Finally, a new patch for the PC should (or might) allow some to be able to restore their corrupted saved files if they happen to still have them. In addition, the PC only update addresses a couple of other issues, including a number of graphics issues for both Crossfire and SLI users.

Rocksteady has also improved the patching process so that it goes along much smoother now and gets rid of the error messages. Rocksteady does seem to think they finally have a handle on the saved corruption issues, so let’s hope that we don’t see it rear its ugly head again.